Irving, Texas

TOTAL SCORE: 52

The US city of Irving, Texas, is one of the early adopters of contactless technology, discovering way back in 2003 that consumers liked the convenience of being able to pay for their lunch with their cell phone.

In what is often regarded as the first US trials of contactless mobile, Nokia and MasterCard International ran a six-month pilot demonstrating how a Nokia handset enabled with MasterCard PayPass could be used to make payments at the point of sale.

Around 260 users took part in the project, which enabled them to make contactless transactions at seven retailers in the local area close to Nokia’s US headquarters, including Rockfish Seafood Grill, Corner Bakery Cafe, Jason’s Deli, Wolf Camera and Chevron. AT&T Wireless and JPMorgan Chase were also involved.